Harappan Civilization

Although they did use some writing with pictographic symbols
at Mohenjo-daro, they were not extensive nor alphabetic nor have
they been deciphered yet, and the Indo-European Sanskrit which
did develop in India is probably quite different. Nevertheless
the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan
did borrow many ideas from Mesopotamia and is considered the third
civilization to develop. Two seals of the Mohenjo-daro type were
discovered at Elam and Mesopotamia, and a cuneiform inscription
was unearthed at Mohenjo-daro.

The pastoral villages that spread out east of Elam through
Iran and Baluchistan prepared the way for the cities that were
to develop around the Indus River, particularly at Harappa and
Mohenjo-daro. By about 3000 BC they were building mud-brick houses;
burials in the houses included funereal objects; and pottery had
fine designs and the potters' marks. After 2500 BC farmers moved
out into the alluvial plain of the Indus River valley and achieved
full-sized villages using copper and bronze pins, knives, and
axes; figurines of women and cattle indicate probable religious
attitudes.

The urban phase began about 2300 BC and lasted for about six
hundred years with elaborate cities like Mohenjo-daro (called
locally Mound of the Dead), which was excavated in the 1920s.
This city and others not yet excavated had about 40,000 inhabitants
congregated in well built houses with private showers and toilets
that drained into municipal sewer lines. Suffering from occasional
flooding by the Indus, Mohenjo-daro was rebuilt seven times. The
largest structures were the elevated granary and the great bath
or swimming pool which was 12 by 7 meters. Around the pool were
dressing rooms and private baths.

The people of the Harappan culture did not seem to be very
warlike, although they hunted wild game and domesticated cattle,
sheep, and goats. Wheat and barley were the main food supplemented
by peas, sesame, and other vegetables and fruits, beef, mutton,
pork, eggs, fish, and milk. Compared to other ancient civilizations,
the houses were of nearly equal size, indicating a more egalitarian
social structure. The potter's wheel and carts were used; children
played with miniature toy carts. Cotton, perhaps first used here,
and wool were made into clothing. A bronze figurine was found
of an expressive dancing girl with her hand on her hip, naked
except for jewelry. The numerous figurines of the Mother Goddess
indicate a likely source for what later became the Shakti worship
of the feminine power in India. A male god in a yoga posture,
depicted with three faces and two horns, has been identified with
Shiva, another important figure in later Indian religion. Phallic
lingams, also associated with Shiva, have been found. A civilization
that endured dangerous flooding for six hundred years very likely
had a strong religion to help hold people together.

With no written histories the decline of this civilization
is subject to much speculation. The traditional theory is that
the Aryans invaded from the northwest. Although this is likely,
the decline of Harappan culture was quite gradual and indicates
problems beyond foreign conquest. One theory is deforestation,
because of all the wood needed for the kilns to make the bricks
used to keep out the flood waters that gradually brought about
salinization of the soil, as it had to Sumer over centuries, so
that the Harappan culture had greatly declined by 1900 BC.

However, a more comprehensive explanation comes from an analysis
of the consequences of the extensive herds of cattle that indicate
overgrazing and a general degradation of the ecosystem, including
salinization of water supplies. This led farmers to move on to
greener pastures, leaving behind abandoned villages and depopulated
cities. Even though fodder was probably grown to feed the cattle,
this would not have been enough; and the overgrazing by the bullocks
and milk cows could have caused the surrounding land to deteriorate.
By 1500 BC the Harappan civilization had faded away into a culture
that was spreading throughout India with new ideas from the west.

The traditional theory, well documented by the ancient hymns
of the Vedas, is that a people calling themselves Aryans
conquered the native peoples of India and destroyed their forts.
Because of language similarities these Aryans are associated particularly
with the Iranians and even further back with the origins of the
Indo-European language group. The general consensus seems to be
that this culture must have begun somewhere in the Russian steppes
and Central Asia about 2000 BC, though some have put their origin
in Lithuania because of similarity to that language. The branch
of these speakers, who came to India under the name Aryans, which
means "noble ones," is the Indo-Iranian group. In fact
"Iran" derives from the Persian cognate of the word
for Aryan. Other branches spread into Greece and western Asia
as Hittites, Kassites, and Mitanni. A rock inscription found at
Boghaz Koi dated about 1400 BC, commemorating a treaty between
the Mitanni and Hittites, invokes the Aryan gods Indra, Varuna,
Mitra, and the twins Nasatya (Asvins).

The ancient writings of the Persian Avesta and the Hindu
Vedas share many gods and beliefs. Eventually they must
have split, causing later authors to demonize the divinities of
their adversaries. In early Hindu writings the asuras were
respected gods, but later they became the demons most hated, while
Ahura Mazda became the chief god of the Zoroastrians. (Persian
often uses an h where Sanskrit uses an s, such as haoma
for soma.) On the other hand the Hindu term for divinities,
devas, was used by Zoroastrians to describe the devils from which
even our English word is derived. Some scholars have concluded
that the ancient Hindus did not want to admit that they came from
Iran, and therefore the origin of the Aryans is never mentioned
in the ancient texts, although they frankly boast of their conquest
over the indigenous Dasas or Dasyus in India.

The word Veda means knowledge, and the Vedas
are considered the most sacred scripture of Hinduism referred
to as sruti, meaning what was heard by or revealed to the
rishis or seers. The most holy hymns and mantras put together
into four collections called the Rig, Sama, Yajur,
and Atharva Vedas are difficult to date, because they were
passed on orally for about a thousand years before they were written
down. More recent categories of Vedas include the Brahmanas
or manuals for ritual and prayer, the Aranyakas or forest
texts for religious hermits, and the Upanishads or mystical
discourses.

Rig Veda

The hymns of the Rig Veda are considered the oldest
and most important of the Vedas, having been composed between
1500 BC and the time of the great Bharata war about 900 BC. More
than a thousand hymns are organized into ten mandalas or circles
of which the second through the seventh are the oldest and the
tenth is the most recent. The Hindu tradition is that even the
Vedas were gradually reduced from much more extensive and
ancient divine revelations but were perverted in the recent dark
age of Kaliyuga. As the only writings from this ancient
period of India, they are considered the best source of knowledge
we have; but the ethical doctrines seem to have improved from
the ancient hymns to the mystical Upanishads.

Essentially the RigVeda is dominated by hymns
praising the Aryan gods for giving them victories and wealth plundered
from the local Dasas through warfare. The Aryans apparently used
their advances in weaponry and skill in fighting to conquer the
agricultural and tribal peoples of the fading Harappan culture.
Numerous hymns refer to the use of horses and chariots with spokes
which must have given their warriors a tremendous advantage. Spears,
bows, arrows, and iron weapons are also mentioned. As a nomadic
and pastoral culture glorifying war, they established a new social
structure of patriarchal families dominated by warriors and, eventually
with the power of the Vedas themselves, by priests also.

The RigVeda does mention assemblies, but these
were probably of the warrior elite, which may have had some controlling
influence on the kings and the tribal priest called a purohita.
The gods worshiped resemble the Indo-European gods and were headed
by the powerful Indra, who is often credited with destroying ninety
forts. Also popular was Agni, the fire-god considered a messenger
of the gods. Varuna and Mitra, the gods of the night and day sky,
have been identified with the Greek Uranos and the Persian Mithras
respectively. Dyaus, who is not mentioned nearly as often, has
been correlated with the Greek Zeus. Surya the sun-god is referred
to as the eye of Varuna and the son of Dyaus and rides through
the sky on his chariot led by his twin sons, the Asvins who represent
his rays; Ushas the dawn is his wife or daughter. Maruts are storm-gods
shaped by Rudra, who may have been one of the few indigenous deities
adopted by the Aryans. Like the Iranian Avesta, the RigVeda refers to the thirty-three gods.

Generally the hymns of the RigVeda praise the
gods and ask them for worldly benefits such as wealth, health,
long life, protection, and victory over the Dasa peoples.

He, self-reliant, mighty and triumphant,
brought low the dear head of the wicked Dasas.
Indra the Vritra-slayer, Fort-destroyer,
scattered the Dasa hosts who dwelt in darkness.
For men hath he created earth and waters,
and ever helped the prayer of him who worships.
To him in might the Gods have ever yielded,
to Indra in the tumult of battle.
When in his arms they laid the bolt,
he slaughtered the Dasyus
and cast down their forts of iron.1

They call upon Brihaspati or Brahmanaspati, who has been related
to a Hittite thunder-god, to avenge the sinner and protect them
from the deceitful and wicked man. The Aryans did have a concept
of eternal law called rita, which the immortal Agni in
serving the gods is said to never break (RigVeda
III:3:1).

In RigVeda III:34:9 Indra killed the Dasyus
and "gave protection to the Aryan color." Not only did
the Aryans shamelessly pray for booty in war, but they based their
militarily won supremacy on the lightness of their skin color
compared to the dark colors of the native Dasyus. They arrogantly
proclaimed, "Let those who have no weapons suffer sorrow."
(RigVeda IV:5:14.)

Renowned is he when conquering and when slaying:
'tis he who wins cattle in the combat.
When Indra hardens his indignation
all that is fixed and all that moves fear him.
Indra has won all kine, all gold, all horses, -
Maghavan, he who breaks forts in pieces;2

Indra is praised for killing thousands of the abject tribes
of Dasas with his arrow and taking great vengeance with "murdering
weapons." (RigVeda IV:28:3-4) One hymn mentions
sending thirty thousand Dasas "to slumber" and another
hymn sixty thousand slain. A hymn dedicated to the weapons of
war (RigVeda VI:75) refers to a warrior "armed
with mail," using a bow to win cattle and subdue all regions,
"upstanding in the car the skillful charioteer guides his
strong horses on whithersoe'er he will." The arrows had iron
mouths and shafts "with venom smeared" that "not
one be left alive." Hymn VII:83 begins, "Looking to
you and your alliance, O ye men, armed with broad axes they went
forward, fain for spoil. Ye smote and slew his Dasa and his Aryan
enemies."

Only occasionally did the authors of these hymns look to their
own sins.

Free us from sins committed by our fathers,
from those wherein we have ourselves offended.
O king, loose, like a thief who feeds the cattle,
as from the cord a calf, set free Vasishtha.
Not our own will betrayed us, but seduction,
thoughtlessness, Varuna! wine, dice or anger.
The old is near to lead astray the younger:
even sleep removes not all evil-doing.3

A hymn to the frogs compares the repetitions of the priests
around the soma bowl to the croaking of the frogs around a pond
after the rains come. (RigVeda VII:103)

The basic belief of the prayers and sacrifices is that they
will help them to gain their desires and overcome their enemies,
as in RigVeda VIII:31:15: "The man who, sacrificing,
strives to win the heart of deities will conquer those who worship
not." Some awareness of a higher law seems to be dawning
in the eighth book in hymn 75: "The holy law hath quelled
even mighty men of war. Break ye not off our friendship, come
and set me free." However, the enemies are now identified
with the Asuras and still are intimidated by greater weapons:
"Weaponless are the Asuras, the godless: scatter them with
thy wheel, impetuous hero." (Rig Veda VIII:85:9)

Many of the hymns refer to the intoxicating soma juice, which
is squeezed from the mysterious soma plant and drank. All of the
hymns of the ninth book of the RigVeda are dedicated
to the purifying soma, which is even credited with making them
feel immortal, probably because of its psychedelic influence.
The first hymn in this book refers to the "iron-fashioned
home" of the Aryans.

In the first book of the RigVeda the worshipers
recognize Agni as the guard of eternal law (I:1:8) and Mitra and
Varuna as lovers and cherishers of law who gained their mighty
power through law (I:2:8). In the 24th hymn they pray to Varuna,
the wise Asura, to loosen the bonds of their sins. However, the
prayers for riches continue, and Indra is thanked for winning
wealth in horses, cattle, and gold by his chariot. Agni helps
to slay the many in war by the hands of the few, "preserving
our wealthy patrons with thy succors, and ourselves." (RigVeda I:31:6, 42) Indra helped win the Aryan victory:

He, much invoked, hath slain Dasyus and Simyus,
after his wont, and laid them low with arrows.
The mighty thunderer with his fair-complexioned friends
won the land, the sunlight, and the waters.4

Control of the waters was essential for agricultural wealth.
Indra is praised for crushing the godless races and breaking down
their forts. (RigVeda I:174)

In the tenth and last book of the RigVeda some
new themes are explored, but the Dasyus are still condemned for
being "riteless, void of sense, inhuman, keeping alien laws,"
and Indra still urges the heroes to slay the enemies; his "hand
is prompt to rend and burn, O hero thunder-armed: as thou with
thy companions didst destroy the whole of Sushna's brood."
(RigVeda X:22)

One unusual hymn is on the subject of gambling with dice. The
speaker regrets alienating his wife, wandering homeless in constant
fear and debt, envying others' well-ordered homes. He finally
warns the listener not to play with dice but recommends cultivating
his land. (RigVeda X:34) Hymn 50 of this most recent
last book urges Indra to win riches with valor "in the war
for water on their fields." Now the prayer is that "we
Gods may quell our Asura foemen." (RigVeda
X:53:4) A wedding ceremony is indicated in a hymn of Surya's bridal,
the daughter of the sun. (RigVeda X:85)

The first indication of the caste system is outlined in the
hymn to Purusha, the embodied human spirit, who is one-fourth
creature and three-fourths eternal life in heaven.

The Brahmin was his mouth,
of both his arms was the Rajanya made.
His thighs became the Vaisya,
from his feet the Sudra was produced.5

The Brahmin caste was to be the priests and teachers; the Rajanya
represents the king, head of the warrior or Kshatriya caste; Vaishyas
are the merchants, craftsmen, and farmers; and the Sudras are
the workers. In hymn 109 the brahmachari or student is
mentioned as engaged in duty as a member of God's own body.

The hymn to liberality is a breath of fresh air:

The riches of the liberal never waste away,
while he who will not give finds none to comfort him.
The man with food in store who,
when the needy comes in miserable case
begging for bread to eat,
Hardens his heart against him -
even when of old he did him service -
find not one to comfort him.6

Yet later we realize that the priests are asking for liberality
to support their own services, for the "plowing makes the
food that feeds us," and thus a speaking (or paid) Brahmin
is better than a silent one.

The power of speech is honored in two hymns.

Where, like men cleansing corn-flour in a
cribble,
the wise in spirit have created language,
Friends see and recognize the marks of friendship:
their speech retains the blessed sign imprinted.7

In hymn 125 of the tenth mandala Vak or speech claims to have
penetrated earth and heaven, holding together all existence.

A philosophical hymn of creation is found in RigVeda
X:129. Beginning from non-being when nothing existed, not even
water nor death, that One breathless breathed by itself. At first
this All was concealed by darkness and formless chaos, but by
heat (tapas) that One came into existence. Thus arose desire,
the primal seed and germ of Spirit. Sages searching in their hearts
discovered kinship with the non-existent. A ray of light extended
across the darkness, but what was known above or below? Creative
fertility was there with energy and action, but who really knows
where this creation came from? For the gods came after the world's
creation. Who could know the source of this creation and how it
was produced? The one seeing it in the highest heaven only knows,
or maybe it does not.

SamaVeda

The SamaVeda contains the melodies or music
for the chants used from the RigVeda for the sacrifices;
almost all of its written verses are traceable to the RigVeda, mostly the eighth and ninth books and most to Indra,
Agni, or Soma. These are considered the origin of Indian music
and probably stimulated great artistry to make the sacrifices
worthwhile to their patrons who supported the priests. The SamaVeda helped to train the musicians and functioned as a
hymnal for the religious rites.

The animal sacrifices did not use the Sama chants, but
they were used extensively in agricultural rites and in the soma
rituals for which the plant with inebriating and hallucinogenic
qualities was imported from the mountains to the heartland of
India. By this time the priests were specializing in different
parts of the sacrifices as professional musicians and singers
increased. The singing was like the strophe, antistrophe, and
epode of the Greek chorus and used the seven tones of the European
scale. By the tenth century BC the Aryans had invaded most of
northern India, and once again trade resumed with Babylon and
others in the near east. As the sacrifices became more complex,
the priestly class used them to enhance their role in the society.
Many considered this musical portion the most important of the
Vedas.

YajurVeda

Though also following many of the hymns of the RigVeda,
the YajurVeda deviates more from the original text
in its collection of the ritual formulas for the priests to use
in the sacrifices, which is what yaja means. It explains
how to construct the altars for new and full-moon sacrifices and
other ceremonies. The Yajur Veda has two collections or
samhitas called White and Black, the latter being more
obscure in its meanings.

By this time (10th century BC and after) the Aryan conquest
has proceeded from the northwest and Punjab to cover northern
India, especially the Ganges valley. The caste system was in place,
and as the warriors settled down to ruling over an agricultural
society, the role of the priests and their ceremonies gained influence
and justified the Aryan ways to the native workers, who labored
for the farmers, merchants, craftsmen, who in turn were governed
by their kings and priests. Land and wealth were accumulated in
the hands of a few ruling families, and with food scarce the indigenous
people were enslaved or had to sell their labor cheap to the ruling
classes.

By instituting more elaborate sacrifices for their wealthy
patrons, the priests could grow both in numbers and wealth as
well. The famous horse sacrifice was not celebrated often but
was used by a king to show his lordship over potential adversaries,
who were invited to acknowledge this overlordship in the ritual.
The parts of the horse symbolize different aspects of the universe
so that tremendous power is invoked. The complicated and obscure
rituals were presided over by the priests - the three symbols
of the lotus leaf, the frog (for rain), and the golden man (for
the sun) representing the Aryan dominance over the land and waters
of India and the natural powers that sustain agriculture.

The soma sacrifice was the most important and could last up
to twelve years. Since the soma plant was imported from distant
mountains, it had to be purchased. A ritual drama re-enacted this
business and aggressive Aryan history by showing the buyer snatching
back the calf, which was paid for the soma plant, after the transaction
occurs. The soma plant was then placed in a cart and welcomed
as an honored guest and king at the sacrifice. Animals were slain
and cut up in the rites before their meat was eaten. After various
offerings and other ceremonies the soma juice is poured and toasted
to different gods, and finally the text lists the sacrificial
fees, usually goats, cows, gold, clothes, and food.

Coronation ceremonies supported the inauguration of kings.
The priests tried to keep themselves above the warrior caste though
by praising soma as king of the Brahmins. Waters were drawn from
various rivers to sprinkle on the king and indicate the area of
his kingdom, and he strode in each direction to signify his sovereignty.
The king was anointed by the royal priest, giving some water to
his son, the designated prince, and ritually enacting a raid against
a kinsman's cattle, once again affirming their history of conquest.
The booty was taken and divided into three parts for the priest,
those who drank, and the original owner. A ritual dice game was
played, which the king was allowed to win. The king then rode
out in his chariot and was publicly worshiped as a divine ruler.

Agricultural rites were common and regular, and chariot races
were no doubt popular at some of the festivals. The Purusha (person)
sacrifice symbolized human sacrifice, which may refer back to
the time when a hunting and pastoral people did not allow their
enemies to live because of the shortage of food. However, in an
agricultural society more labor was needed and could produce surplus
food. The Purusha sacrifice recognized 184 professional crafts
and guilds.

Finally the highest sacrifice was considered to be the Sarvamedha
in which the sacrificer offered all of his possessions as the
fee at the end of the ceremony. The last chapter of the YajurVeda is actually the Isha
Upanishad, expressing the mystical view that the supreme
spirit pervades everything.

This society was highly patriarchal, and the status of women
declined, especially as men often married non-Aryan women. Women
did not attend public assemblies and could not inherit property
on their own. Polyandry was discouraged, but polygamy, adultery,
and prostitution were generally accepted except during certain
rituals. A sacrificer was not allowed to seek a prostitute on
the first day of the sacrificial fire, nor the wife of another
on the second day, nor his own wife on the third day.

The priests placed themselves at the top of the caste system
as they supervised a religion most of the people could not understand
without them. After the AtharvaVeda was accepted,
each sacrifice required at least four priests, one on each side
of the fire using the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and
AtharvaVedas, plus their assistants. After the
wars of conquest were completed and the warrior caste settled
down to rule, the priests were needed to sustain social stability.
Yet in these times the caste system was much more flexible, as
it is indicated that one should not ask about the caste of a learned
man. The Brahmins, as the priest caste was called, had three obligations
or debts to pay back in life: they paid back the seers by studying
the Vedas, the gods by offering sacrifices, and their fathers
by raising a family.

Like their European ancestors, the Aryan warriors considered
themselves above laboring for food and so organized society that
food would be provided for them. One ethical duty later found
in the epics was that of taking care of refugees, probably because
as marauding raiders they had often been refugees themselves.
The priests assured their livelihood by making sure that penance
through religious ritual was a prime social value.

AtharvaVeda

The latest and fourth Veda is in a different category.
For a long time many referred to only three Vedas, by which
complete ceremonies could be conducted with the Righotr
reciting, the Samaudgatri singing, and the Yajuradhvaryu performing the ritual. Even later the Atharvan
Brahmin's part was often performed unaccompanied by the other
three priests. Also much of it draws from the customs and beliefs
of pre-Aryan or pre-Vedic India. The AtharvaVeda
is much longer than the Sama and Yajur and only
about a sixth of it is from the RigVeda.

The AtharvaVeda is primarily magical spells
and incantations. The line between prayer and magic and between
white and black magic is usually drawn by ethical considerations.
The bheshajani are for healing and cures using herbs to
treat fever, leprosy, jaundice, dropsy, and other diseases. The
Aryans looked down on doctors and medicine, probably because the
natives were more skilled in these than they. Other more positive
spells were for successful childbirth, romance, fecundity, virility,
etc.

The negative or bewitching spells were called abhichara
and attempted to cause diseases or harm to enemies; often they
were aimed at serpents and demons. The sorcery is ascribed to
one of the authors, Angiras, whose name is related to Agni (Latin
ignis), the divine messenger and possibly a distant cognate
of the Greek word for messenger, angel. Another author, Atharvan,
derives from the old Iranian root, atar, meaning fire.
The third author, Bhrigu, was the name of a tribe which opposed
Sudas in the battle of ten kings in the RigVeda,
and his name has also been related to a Greek word for fire. The
fourth author is Brahmin, the name which was given to the Atharvan
priest, which eventually became so sacred that it was used as
a name not only for the priestly caste but even for God the Creator.

In addition to physicians the Vedic Aryans also held in contempt
Atharvan astrologers as well as magic, but from this came
not only astrology but also the beginning of Ayurvedic medicine.
Like most ancient peoples, they also believed that the main cause
of disease was evil spirits, possession, or what we would call
psychological factors. The magical elements, particularly the
abhicara, and the subjects of healing, herbs, and cooking,
which were mostly in the woman's domain, made the AtharvaVeda obnoxious to many Vedic priests. However, these rituals
were very popular, and the Brahmin priest's share of the fees
soon became equal to the other three priests' combined. Eventually
this shamanic tradition had to be incorporated into the Vedic
religion, especially later when it faced the new challenges of
Jainism and Buddhism.

The Brahmin caste became even stronger, and their wealth can
be seen by the belief that the cow by right belonged exclusively
to them. Taxes were collected probably by the warrior Kshatriya
caste from the Vaisya artisans, farmers, and merchants. The Sudra
workers were too poor to be taxed, and the Brahmins were exempt.
One verse (AtharvaVeda 3:29:3) describes heaven
as "where a tax is not paid by a weak man for a stronger."

Marriage ceremonies are included. Here is a brief example:

I am he; you are she.
I am song; you are verse.
I am heaven; you are earth.
Let us two dwell together here;
let us generate children.8

According to the AtharvaVeda (5:17:8-9), a Brahmin
could take a wife from the husband of any other caste simply by
seizing her hand. Book 18 contains only funeral verses. There
are coronation rites for kings, though the prayer is that the
people will choose the king, usually already selected by heredity
or the council. Philosophy and abstraction are creeping in, as
there are two hymns to the deity of time, and kama (love,
desire, pleasure) is praised as "the first seed of the mind"
that generated heaven. (Atharva Veda 19:52)

Let us conclude this section on the AtharvaVeda
with some selections from its beautiful hymn to the Earth as a
sample of the more positive expression of the Vedas:

High Truth, unyielding Order, Consecration,
Ardor and Prayer and Holy Ritual
uphold the Earth, may she, the ruling Mistress
of what has been and what will come to be,
for us spread wide a limitless domain.

Untrammeled in the midst of men, the Earth,
adorned with heights and gentle slopes and plains,
bears plants and herbs of various healing powers.
May she spread wide for us, afford us joy!

On whom are ocean, river, and all waters,
on whom have sprung up food and plowman's crops,
on whom moves all that breathes and stirs abroad -
Earth, may she grant to us the long first draught!

To Earth belong the four directions of space.
On her grows food; on her the plowman toils.
She carries likewise all that breathes and stirs.
Earth, may she grant us cattle and food in plenty!

On whom the men of olden days roamed far,
on whom the conquering Gods smote the demons,
the home of cattle, horses, and of birds,
may Earth vouchsafe to us good fortune and glory!

Bearer of all things, hoard of treasures rare,
sustaining mother, Earth the golden-breasted
who bears the Sacred Universal Fire,
whose spouse is Indra - may she grant us wealth!

Limitless Earth, whom the Gods, never sleeping,
protect forever with unflagging care,
may she exude for us the well-loved honey,
shed upon us her splendor copiously!

Earth, who of yore was Water in the oceans,
discerned by the Sages' secret powers,
whose immortal heart, enwrapped in Truth,
abides aloft in the highest firmament,
may she procure for us splendor and power,
according to her highest royal state!

On whom the flowing Waters, ever the same,
course without cease or failure night and day,
may she yield milk, this Earth of many streams,
and shed on us her splendor copiously!

May Earth, whose measurements the Asvins marked,
over whose breadth the foot of Vishnu strode,
whom Indra, Lord of power, freed from foes,
stream milk for me, as a mother for her son!

Your hills, O Earth, your snow-clad mountain peaks,
your forests, may they show us kindliness!
Brown, black, red, multifarious in hue
and solid is this vast Earth, guarded by Indra.
Invincible, unconquered, and unharmed,
I have on her established my abode.

Impart to us those vitalizing forces
that come, O Earth, from deep within your body,
your central point, your navel, purify us wholly.
The Earth is mother; I am son of Earth.
The Rain-giver is my father; may he shower on us blessings!

The Earth on which they circumscribe the altar,
on which a band of workmen prepare the oblation,
on which the tall bright sacrificial posts
are fixed before the start of the oblation -
may Earth, herself increasing, grant us increase!

That man, O Earth, who wills us harm, who fights us,
who by his thoughts or deadly arms opposes,
deliver him to us, forestalling action.

All creatures, born from you, move round upon you.
You carry all that has two legs, three, or four.
To you, O Earth, belong the five human races,
those mortals upon whom the rising sun
sheds the immortal splendor of his rays.

May the creatures of earth, united together,
let flow for me the honey of speech!
Grant to me this boon, O Earth.

Mother of plants and begetter of all things,
firm far-flung Earth, sustained by Heavenly Law,
kindly and pleasant is she. May we ever
dwell on her bosom, passing to and fro!...

Do not thrust us aside from in front or behind,
from above or below! Be gracious, O Earth.
Let us not encounter robbers on our path.
Restrain the deadly weapons!

As wide a vista of you as my eye
may scan, O Earth, with the kindly help of Sun,
so widely may my sight be never dimmed
in all the long parade of years to come!

Whether, when I repose on you, O Earth,
I turn upon my Right side or my left,
or whether, extended flat upon my back,
I meet your pressure from head to foot,
be gentle, Earth! You are the couch of all!

Whatever I dig up of you, O Earth,
may you of that have quick replenishment!
O purifying One, may my thrust never
reach Right into your vital points, your heart!

Your circling seasons, nights succeeding days,
your summer, O Earth, your splashing rains, your autumn,
your winter and frosty season yielding to spring---
may each and all produce for us their milk!...

From your numberless tracks by which mankind may travel,
your roads on which move both chariots and wagons
your paths which are used by the good and the bad,
may we choose a way free from foes and robbers!
May you grant us the blessing of all that is wholesome!

She carries in her lap the foolish and also the wise.
She bears the death of the wicked as well as the good.
She lives in friendly collaboration with the boar,
offering herself as sanctuary to the wild pig....

Peaceful and fragrant, gracious to the touch,
may Earth, swollen with milk, her breasts overflowing,
grant me her blessing together with her milk!

The Maker of the world sought her with oblations
when she was shrouded in the depth of the ocean.
A vessel of gladness, long cherished in secret,
the earth was revealed to mankind for their joy.

Primeval Mother, disperser of men,
you, far-flung Earth, fulfill all our desires.
Whatever you lack, may the Lord of creatures,
the First-born of Right, supply to you fully!

May your dwellings, O Earth, free from sickness and wasting,
flourish for us! Through a long life, watchful,
may we always offer to you our tribute!

O Earth, O Mother, dispose my lot
in gracious fashion that I be at ease.
In harmony with all the powers of Heaven
set me, O Poet, in grace and good fortune!9

Brahmanas

Between about 900 and 700 BC the Brahmanas were written
in prose as sacerdotal commentaries on the four Vedas to
guide the practices of the sacrifices and give explanations often
mythical and fanciful for these customs. However, their limited
focus of justifying the priestly actions in the sacrifices restricted
the themes of these first attempts at imaginative literature.
Nevertheless they do give us information about the social customs
of this period and serve as a transition from the Vedas
to the Aranyakas and the mystical Upanishads.

The caste system based on color (varna) was now established,
though not as rigidly as it became later. The essential difference
was between the light-skinned Aryans, who made up the top three
castes of the priestly Brahmins, warrior Kshatriyas, and artisan
Vaishyas, and the dark-skinned Dasas, who were the servant Sudras.
Sudras, like women, could not own property, and only rarely did
they rise above service positions. The Vaishyas were the basis
of the economic system of trade, crafts, and farming. The Vaishyas
were considered inferior by the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, and a
female was generally not allowed to marry below her caste, though
it was common for a male to do so. Even a Brahmin's daughter was
not supposed to marry a Kshatriya.

The rivalry for prestige and power was between the Brahmins
and the Kshatriyas or rajanyas. Brahmins often held debates
on Brahman and other religious issues. Janaka, a rajanya
gained knowledge and defeated some Brahmins in discussion. So
some Brahmins suggested a symposium on Brahman to prove who was
superior, but since Brahmins were expected to be superior on these
issues, Yajnavalkya prudently replied, "We are Brahmins;
he is a rajanya. If we win, whom shall we say that we have
defeated? But if he defeats us, they will say a rajanya
has defeated Brahmins; so let us not convene this symposium."10

Kings were consecrated by Vedic rites and ruled with the help
of the assembly (sabha) that met in a hall to administer
justice; women were excluded. Ordeals were used, such as making
a suspected thief touch a hot ax to see if his hand burned, which
might be the origin of the saying, "being caught red-handed."
Politics and legislation took place in a larger council (samiti).
Taxes were collected to support these institutions and the army.

Each village was administered by a Gramani, a Vaisya who functioned
like a mayor with civil rather than military authority. The Gramani
and the royal charioteer (Suta) were considered the kingmakers.
This latter privileged position was not merely the driver of the
king but also his chief advisor and perhaps storyteller as well.
The royal priest or Purohito was also supposed to advise
the king in peace and protect him in war. The season of dew after
the monsoons ended was considered the time for "sacking cities,"
as ambitious kings came into conflict with each other in wars.

In addition to the discussions of sacerdotal matters, the Brahmanas
do contain some stories meant to explain or rationalize their
religious practices. Some of these are quite imaginative, though
the usual pattern is for the hero to discover a rite to perform
or a chant to intone which miraculously solves whatever problem
is pressing to give a happy ending.

Wendy O'Flaherty has translated some stories from the JaiminiyaBrahmana, illustrating how they dealt with the fears of
death, God, the father, wives, and demonic women; many of these
stories are sexually explicit, indicating that these people were
not afraid of discussing their sexuality. However, since the usual
way of handling these fears was to use a sacrificial ritual, the
solutions probably had only limited social and psychological value.

The most famous of these stories, and the best in my opinion,
is the tale of Bhrigu's journey in the other world. Bhrigu was
the son of Varuna and devoted to learning, and he thought that
he was better than the other Brahmins and even better than the
gods and his own father. So Varuna decided to teach him something
by stopping his life breaths, causing Bhrigu to enter the world
beyond, where he saw someone cut another man to pieces and eat
him, a second man eating another who was screaming, a third eating
a man who was silently screaming, another world where two women
were guarding a treasure, a fifth where a stream of blood was
guarded by a naked black man with a club and a stream of butter
provided all the desires of golden men in golden bowls, and a
sixth world where flowed five rivers of blue and white lotuses
and flowing honey with wonderful music, celestial nymphs dancing
and singing, and a fragrant odor.

When Bhrigu returned, his father Varuna explained to him that
the first man represented people who in ignorance destroy trees,
which in turn eat them; the second are those who cook animals
that cry out and in the other world are eaten by them in return;
the third are those who ignorantly cook rice and barley, which
scream silently and also eat them in return; the two women are
Faith and non-Faith; the river of blood represents those who squeeze
the blood out of a Brahmin, and the naked black man guarding is
Anger; but the true sacrificers are the golden men, who get the
river of butter and the paradise of the five rivers.

To me this myth is a clear warning against the harmful actions
of deforestation and meat-eating, and even the eating of living
vegetables is to be done in silent respect. It shows an intuitive
understanding of the principle of karma or the consequences of
action as well as the growing importance of the concept of faith
in addition to the usual theme of the sacrifice.

The power of the word is increasing, as the sacrifices were
glorified and given power even over the Vedic gods. Japa
or the practice of chanting a mantram like Aum practiced
ascetically with the sacrifices was believed to produce all one's
desires. At the same time knowledge was beginning to be valued.
In one exchange mind says that speech merely imitates it, but
speech emphasizes the importance of expression and communication;
however, Prajapati decides that mind is more important even than
the word.

This new god, Prajapati, is said to have given birth to both
the gods and the demons. The ethical principle of truth appears
as the gods are described as being truthful and the demons as
being false. However, realizing the ways of the world, many complain
that the demons grew strong and rich, just as cattle like salty
soil; but by performing the sacrifice the gods attained the whole
truth and triumph, as, analogically I might add, people will eventually
realize that cattle as well as salt ruins the land.

Prajapati not only was the first to sacrifice but was considered
the sacrifice itself. He practiced tapas to create by the
heat of his own effort, and this heat was also related to cosmic
fire and light as well as the warmth of the body and breath. Another
concept of energy associated with the breath was prana;
it also was identified with goodness, as the texts imply that
as the life force it cannot be impure or bad. Prajapati not only
created but entered into things as form and name, giving them
order. Eventually Prajapati would be replaced by Brahman, who
was identified with truth and would become the Creator God in
the trinity that would include Vishnu, a sun-god who becomes the
Preserver, and Shiva, who is derived from the indigenous Rudra,
the Destroyer. With all the mental activity going on analyzing
the rites and their explanation, abstractions were increasing
in the religion.

A judgment after death using a scale to weigh good against
evil is described in the SatapathaBrahmana, an
idea which may have been transported from Egypt by merchants.
This text recommends that the one who knows this will balance
one's deeds in this world so that in the next the good deeds will
rise, not the evil ones. Belief in repeated lives through reincarnation
is indicated in several passages in the Brahmanas. A beef-eater
is punished by being born into a strange and sinful creature.
As knowledge rivaled the value of ritual, this new problem of
how to escape from an endless cycle of rebirth presented itself.

Aranyakas

The larger body of Vedic literature is divided into two parts
with the four Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Samhitas
and their Brahmanas making up the Karmakanda on the work
of the sacrifices and the Aranyakas and the Upanishads
the section on knowledge called the Jnanakanda. The Aranyakas
and the Upanishads were tacked on to the end of Brahmanas,
and the only three Aranyakas extant share the names of
the Brahmanas they followed and the Upanishads they
preceded: Aitareya, Kausitaki, and the Taittiriya;
the first two are associated with the Rig Veda, the last
with the Yajur Veda.

The Aranyakas are called the forest texts, because ascetics
retreated into the forest to study the spiritual doctrines with
their students, leading to less emphasis on the sacrificial rites
that were still performed in the towns. They were transitional
between the Brahmanas and the Upanishads in that
they still discuss rites and have magical content, dull lists
of formulas and some hymns from the Vedas as well as the
early speculations and intellectual discussions that flowered
in the Upanishads. The sages who took in students in their
forest hermitages were not as wealthy as the Brahmins in the towns
who served royalty and other wealthy patrons.

The TaittiriyaAranyaka tells how when the Vataramsa
sages were first approached by other sages, they retreated; but
when the sages came back with faith and tapas (ardor),
they instructed them how to expiate the sin of abortion. Prayers
were offered for pregnant women whether they were married or not,
even if the father was unknown because of promiscuity. Yet the
double standard against women for unchastity was in effect, unless
a student seduced the teacher's wife. Truth was the highest value;
through truth the right to heaven was retained. Debtors were in
fear of punishment in hell, probably because the social punishments
in this world were severe---torture and perhaps even death.

The emphasis now was on knowledge, even on wisdom, as they
prayed for intelligence. The concept of prana as the life
energy of the breath is exalted as that which establishes the
entire soul. Prana is found in trees, animals, and people
in ascending order. Human immortality is identified with the soul
(atman), not the body. Hell is still feared, but by practicing
austerity (tapas) to gain knowledge individuals hope to
be born into a better world after death or be liberated from rebirth.
Non-attachment (vairagya) also purifies the body and overcomes
death.

The essence of the Vedic person was considered Brahman, and
the knower or inner person was known as the soul (atman).
The guardians of the spiritual treasures of the community were
called Brahmavadins (those who discuss Brahman). A son approached
his father and asked what was supreme. The father replied, "Truth,
tapas, self-control, charity, dharma (duty), and
progeny."11

Early Upanishads

The term Upanishad means literally "those who sit
near" and implies listening closely to the secret doctrines
of a spiritual teacher. Although there are over two hundred Upanishads,
only fifteen are mentioned by the philosophic commentator Shankara
(788-820 CE). These fifteen and the Maitri are considered
Vedic and the principal Upanishads; the rest were written
later and are related to the Puranic worship of Shiva, Shakti,
and Vishnu. The oldest and longest of the Upanishads are
the Brihad-Aranyaka and the Chandogya from about
the seventh century BC.

The Brihad-Aranyaka has three Aranyaka chapters
followed by six Upanishad chapters. The first chapter of
the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad describes the world as represented
by the horse-sacrifice. The primordial battle between the gods
and the devils accounts for the evil found in the senses, mind,
and speech, but by striking off the evil the divinities were carried
beyond death. The priest chants for profound aspiration, one of
the most famous verses from the Upanishads:

From the unreal lead me to the real!
From darkness lead me to light!
From death lead me to immortality!12

The primary message of the Upanishads is that this can
be done by meditating with the awareness that one's soul (atman)
is one with all things. Thus whoever knows that one is Brahman
(God) becomes this all; even the gods cannot prevent this, since
that one becomes their soul (atman). Therefore whoever
worships another divinity, thinking it is other than oneself,
does not know.

Out of God (Brahman) came the Brahmin caste of priests
and teachers and the Kshatriyas to rule, development through the
Vaishyas and the Sudras. However, a principle was created as justice
(dharma), than which nothing is higher, so that a weak
person may control one stronger, as if by a king. They say that
those who speak the truth speak justice and vice versa, because
they are the same. By meditating on the soul (atman) alone,
one does not perish and can create whatever one wants. Whatever
suffering occurs remains with the creatures; only the good goes
to the soul, because evil does not go to the gods.

The soul is identified with the real, the immortal, and the
life-breath (prana), which is veiled by name and form (individuality).
By restraining the senses and the mind, one may rest in the space
within the heart and become a great Brahmin and like a king may
move around within one's body as one pleases. The world of name
and form is real, but the soul is the truth or reality of the
real. Immortality cannot be obtained through wealth, and all persons
and things in the world are dear not for love of them (husband,
wife, sons, wealth, gods, etc.); but for the love of the soul,
all these are dear. The soul is the overlord of all things, as
the spokes of the wheel are held together by the hub.

The principle of action (karma) is explained as "one
becomes good by good action, bad by bad action."13 How can
one get beyond the duality of seeing, smelling, hearing, speaking
to, thinking of, and understanding another? Can one see the seer,
smell the smeller, hear the hearer, think the thinker, and understand
the understander? It is the soul which is in all things; everything
else is wretched. By passing beyond hunger and thirst, sorrow
and delusion, old age and death, by overcoming desire for sons,
wealth, and worlds, let a Brahmin become disgusted with learning
and live as a child; disgusted with that, let one become an ascetic
until one transcends both the non-ascetic and the ascetic states.
Thus is indicated a spiritual path of learning and discipline
that ultimately transcends even learning and discipline in the
soul, the inner controller, the immortal, the one dwelling in
the mind, whom the mind does not know, who controls the mind from
within.

The one departing this world without knowing the imperishable
is pitiable, but the one knowing it is a Brahmin. The following
refrain is repeated often:

That soul is not this, not that.
It is incomprehensible, for it is not comprehended.
It is indestructible, for it is never destroyed.
It is unattached, for it does not attach itself.
It is unfettered; it does not suffer; it is not injured.14

The soul is considered intelligent, dear, true, endless, blissful,
and stable. As a king prepares a chariot or ship when going on
a journey, one should prepare one's soul with the mystic doctrines
of the Upanishads. The knowledge that is the light in the
heart enables one to transcend this world and death while appearing
asleep. The evils that are obtained with a body at birth are left
behind upon departing at death. One dreams by projecting from
oneself, not by sensing actual objects. In sleep the immortal
may leave one's nest and go wherever one pleases. In addition
to being free from desire the ethical admonition of being without
crookedness or sin is also indicated. At death the soul goes out
first, then the life, and finally the breaths go out.

The soul is made of everything; as one acts, one becomes. The
doer of good becomes good; the doer of evil becomes evil. As is
one's desire, such is one's resolve; as is the resolve, such is
the action, which one attains for oneself. When one's mind is
attached, the inner self goes into the action. Obtaining the consequences
of one's actions, whatever one does in this world comes again
from the other world to this world of action (karma).

By releasing the desires in one's heart, one may be liberated
in immortality, reaching Brahman (God). One is the creator
of all, one with the world. Whoever knows this becomes immortal,
but others go only to sorrow. The knowing is sought through the
spiritual practices of repeating the Vedas, sacrifices,
offerings, penance, and fasting. Eventually one sees everything,
as the soul overcomes both the thoughts of having done wrong and
having done right. The evil does not burn one; rather one burns
the evil. In the soul's being the world-all is known. The student
should practice self-restraint, giving, and compassion.

The ChandogyaUpanishad belongs to the Sama
Veda and is the last eight chapters of the ten-chapter ChandogyaBrahmana. The first two chapters of the Brahmana
discuss sacrifices and other forms of worship. As part of the
Sama Veda, which is the chants, the ChandogyaUpanishad
emphasizes the importance of chanting the sacred Aum. The
chanting of Aum is associated with the life breath (prana),
which is so powerful that when the devils struck it, they fell
to pieces.

The religious life recommended in the ChandogyaUpanishad
has three parts. The first is sacrifice, study of the Vedas,
and giving alms; the second is austerity; and the third is studying
the sacred knowledge while living in the house of a teacher. One
liberal giver, who had many rest-houses built and provided with
food, said, "Everywhere people will be eating of my food."15

The soul in the heart is identified with Brahman (God),
and it is the same as the light which shines higher than in heaven.
Knowing and reverencing the sacrificial fire is believed to repel
evil-doing from oneself. To the one who knows the soul, evil action
does not adhere, just as water does not adhere to the leaf of
the lotus flower. To know the soul as divine is called the "Loveliness-uniter"
because all lovely things come to such.

The doctrine of reincarnation is clearly implied in the ChandogyaUpanishad as it declares that those whose conduct is pleasant
here will enter a pleasant womb of a Brahmin, Kshatriya, or Vaisya;
but those of stinking conduct will enter a stinking womb of a
dog, swine, or outcast. Thus reincarnation is explained as an
ethical consequence of one's actions (karma).

At death the voice goes into the mind, the mind into the breath,
the breath into heat, and heat into the highest divinity, the
finest essence of truth and soul. Speaking to Svetaketu, the teacher
explains that a tree may be struck at the root, the middle, or
the top, but it will continue to live if pervaded by the living
soul. Yet if the life leaves one branch of it, it dries up; and
if it leaves the whole of it, the whole dries up. Then the teacher
explains how the soul is the essence of life and does not die,
concluding with the repeated refrain that his student thus ought
to identify with the soul.

Truly, indeed, when the living soul leaves
it,
this body dies; the living soul does not die.
That which is the subtle essence
this whole world has for its soul.
That is reality (truth). That is the soul.
That you are, Svetaketu.16

Then the teacher placed salt in water and asked his student
to taste different parts of the water. Just so is Being hidden
in all of reality, but it is not always perceived. Just as the
thief burns his hand on the hot ax when tested, the one who did
not steal and is true does not burn his hand, so the whole world
has that truth in its soul.

Speech is to be valued, because it makes known right and wrong,
true and false, good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant. Mind is
revered, because it enables one to do sacred works. Will is valued,
because heaven and earth and all things were formed by being willed.
Thought is important, because it is better not to be thoughtless.
Meditation is revered, because one attains greatness by meditating.
Understanding is valued, because by it we can understand everything.
Strength maintains everything. Food, water, heat, and space each
have their values. Finally also memory, hope, and life (prana)
are to be revered.

Those, who take delight in the soul, have intercourse with
it and find pleasure and bliss in it and freedom; but those, who
do not, have perishable worlds and no freedom. The seer does not
find death nor sickness nor any distress but sees the all and
obtains the all entirely. The soul is free of evil, ageless, deathless,
sorrowless, hungerless, and thirstless. For those, who go from
here having found the soul here, there is freedom in all worlds.
No evil can go into the Brahma-world.

The chaste life of the student of sacred knowledge is the essence
of austerity, fasting, and the hermit life, for in that way one
finds the reality of the soul. The soul must be searched out and
understood. The ChandogyaUpanishad concludes with
the advice that one should learn the Veda from the family
of a teacher while working for the teacher, then study in one's
own home producing sons and pupils, concentrate one's senses upon
the soul, be harmless toward all living things except in the sacrifices
(The religion has not yet purified itself of animal sacrifices.),
so that one may attain the Brahma-world and not return here again.
The implication is that one may become free of the cycle of reincarnation.

The Taittiriya and AitareyaUpanishads
were associated with Aranyakas of the same name. In the
TaittiriyaUpanishad once again Aum is emphasized,
as is peace of soul. Prayers often end with Aum and the
chanting of peace (shanti) three times. This may be preceded
by the noble sentiment, "May we never hate."17 One teacher
says truth is first, another austerity, and a third claims that
study and teaching of the Veda is first, because it includes
austerity and discipline.

The highest goal is to know Brahman, for that is truth,
knowledge, infinite and found hidden in the heart of being and
in the highest heaven, where one may abide with the eternal and
intelligent Spirit (Brahman). Words turn away from it,
and the mind is baffled by the delight of the eternal; the one
who knows this shall not fear anything now or hereafter. Creation
becomes a thing of bliss, for who could labor to draw in breath
or have the strength to breathe it out if there were not this
bliss in the heaven of one's heart?

The AitareyaUpanishad begins with the one Spirit
creating the universe out of its being. As guardians for the worlds,
Spirit made the Purusha (person). Out of the cosmic egg
came speech, breath, eyes and sight, ears and hearing, skin, hair,
and herbs; from the navel and outbreath came death, and from the
organ of pleasure seed and waters were born.

In the concluding chapter of this short Upanishad the
author asked who is this Spirit by whom one sees and hears and
smells and speaks and knows? The answer is the following:

All things are guided by and based on this intelligence of
Spirit (Brahman). Ascending from this world with the intelligent
soul, one obtains all desires in the heavenly world, even immortality.

The KaushitakiUpanishad begins by asking if
there is an end to the cycle of reincarnation. The teacher answers
that one is born again according to one's actions (karma).
Ultimately the one who knows Spirit (Brahman) transcends
even good and evil deeds and all pairs of opposites as a chariot-driver
looks down upon two chariot wheels.

A ceremony is described whereby a dying father bequeaths all
he has to his son. If he recovers, it is recommended that he live
under the lordship of his son or wander as a religious mendicant.
This practice of spiritual seeking as a beggar became one of the
distinctive characteristics of Indian culture.

A story is told of Pratardana, who by fighting and virility
arrives at the beloved home of Indra, who grants him a gift. Pratardana
asks Indra to choose for him what would be most beneficial to
humanity, but Indra replies that a superior does not choose for
an inferior. Pratardana responds that then it is not a gift. After
bragging of many violent deeds and saying that anyone who understands
him is not injured even after committing the worst crimes such
as murdering a parent, Indra identifies himself with the breathing
spirit (prana) of the intelligent soul (prajnatman).
This breathing spirit is the essence of life and thus immortal.
It is by intelligence (prajna) that one is able to master
all of the senses and faculties of the soul. All these faculties
are fixed in the intelligence, which is fixed in the breathing
spirit, which is in truth the blissful, ageless, immortal soul.

One does not become greater by good action nor less by bad
action. One's own self (atman) causes one to lead up from
these worlds by good action or is led downward by bad action.
The soul itself (atman) is the world-protector and the
sovereign of the world. Thus ultimately the soul is responsible
for everything it experiences.

It is mentioned in the KaushitakiUpanishad that
it is contrary to nature for a Kshatriya to receive a Brahmin
as a student. However, the Upanishads represent a time
when the Kshatriya caste began to compete with Brahmins in spiritual
endeavors. Though the Brahmins had control of the formal religion
in the villages where the Kshatriyas controlled the government,
by tutoring their sons and others in the forest the Kshatriyas
developed a less ritualistic and traditional spirituality that
is recorded in the mystical Upanishads.

Kena, Katha, Isha,
and Mundaka

The Kena Upanishad consists
of an older prose section and some more recent verse with which
it begins. The word Kena means "by whom" and
is the first word in a series of questions asking by whom is the
mind projected, by whom does breathing go forth, by whom is speech
impelled? What god is behind the eye and ear? The answer to these
questions points to a mystical self that is beyond the mind and
senses but is that God by which the mind and senses operate.

Those, who think they know it well, know it only slightly.
What relates to oneself and the gods needs to be investigated.
Beyond thought it is not known by those who think they know it.
Beyond understanding it is not known by those who think they understand
it, but by those who realize they do not understand it. It is
correctly known by an awakening, for the one who knows it finds
immortality. It can only be known by the soul. If one does not
know it, it is a great loss. The wise see it in all beings and
upon leaving this world become immortal.

In the prose section this mystical Spirit (Brahman)
is shown to transcend the Vedic gods of fire (Agni), wind (Vayu),
and even powerful Indra, who being above the other gods at least
came nearest to it, realizing that it was Brahman. In summary
the Kena Upanishad concludes
that austerity, restraint, and work are the foundation of the
mystical doctrine; the Vedas are its limbs, and truth is
its home. The one who knows it strikes off evil and becomes established
in the most excellent, infinite, heavenly world.

The Katha Upanishad utilizes
an ancient story from the RigVeda about a father
who gives his son Nachiketas to death (Yama) but brings in some
of the highest teachings of mystical spirituality, helping us
to realize why the Upanishads are referred to as the "end
of the Vedas" in the double sense of completing the
Vedic scripture and in explaining the ultimate goals.

When Vajashrava was sacrificing all his possessions, faith
entered into Nachiketas, his son, who asked his father three times
to whom would he give him. Losing patience with these pestering
questions, the father finally said, "I give you to Death
(Yama)." Nachiketas knew that he was not the first to go
to death, nor would he be the last, and like grain one is born
again anyway.

When he arrived at the house of Death, Yama was not there and
only returned after three days. Because Nachiketas had not received
the traditional hospitality for three days, Yama granted him three
gifts. His first request was that his father would greet him cheerfully
when he returned. The second was that he be taught about the sacrificial
fire. These were easily granted.

The third request of Nachiketas was that the mystery of what
death is be explained to him, for even the gods have had doubts
about this. Death tries to make him ask for something else, such
as wealth or long life with many pleasures, but Nachiketas firmly
insists on his original request, knowing that these other gifts
will soon pass away.

So Death begins by explaining that the good is much better
than the pleasant, which Nachiketas has just proved that he understands.
He wisely wants knowledge not ignorance, and Death describes how
those, who think themselves learned but who are ignorant, run
around deluded and are like the blind leading the blind. Those,
who think this world is the only one, continually come under the
control of Death. Death explains that this knowledge cannot be
known by reasoning or thought, but it must be declared by another.
I interpret this to mean that it must be learned by direct experience
or from one who has had the experience.

Death tells how the truth is hard to see, but one must enter
into the hidden, secret place in the depth of the heart. By considering
this as God, one through yoga (union) wisely leaves joy
and sorrow behind. One must transcend what is right and not right,
what has been done and will be done. The sacred word Aum
is declared to be the imperishable Spirit (Brahman). The
wise realize that they are not born nor die but are unborn, constant,
eternal, primeval; this is not slain when the body is slain.

Smaller than the small, greater than the great, the soul is
in the heart of every creature here. The one who is not impulsive
sees it and is free of sorrow. Through the grace of the creator
one sees the greatness of the soul. While sitting one may travel
far; while lying down one may go everywhere. Who else but oneself
can know the god of joy and sorrow, who is bodiless among bodies
and stable among the unstable?

This soul is not obtained by instruction nor by intellect nor
by much learning, but is obtained by the one chosen by this; to
such the soul reveals itself. However, it is not revealed to those
who have not ceased from bad conduct nor to those who are not
peaceful. Those, who drink of justice, enter the secret place
in the highest heaven. Thus correct ethics is a requirement, and
one must also become peaceful.

Psychology is explained in the Katha
Upanishad by using the analogy of a chariot. The soul
is the lord of the chariot, which is the body. The intuition (buddhi)
is the chariot-driver, the mind the reins, the senses the horses,
and the objects of the senses the paths. Those, who do not understand
and whose minds are undisciplined with senses out of control,
are like the wild horses of a chariot that never reaches its goals;
these go on to reincarnate. The wise reach their goal with Vishnu
and are not born again. The hierarchy, starting from the bottom,
consists of the objects of sense, the senses, the mind, the intuition,
the soul, the unmanifest, and the person (Purusha).

Though hidden, the soul may be seen by subtle seers with superior
intellect. The intelligent restrain speech with the mind, the
mind with the knowing soul, the knowing soul with the intuitive
soul, and the intuitive soul with the peaceful soul. Yet the spiritual
path is as difficult as crossing on the sharpened edge of a razor.
By discerning what has no sound nor touch nor form nor decay nor
taste nor beginning nor end, one is liberated from the mouth of
death.

A wise person, seeking immortality, looked within and saw the
soul. The childish go after outward pleasures and walk into the
net of widespread death. The wise do not seek stability among
the unstable things here. Knowing the experiencer, the living
soul is the lord of what has been and what will be. This is the
ancient one born from discipline standing in the secret place.
This is the truth that all things are one, but those, who see
a difference here, go from death to death like water runs to waste
among the hills. The soul goes into embodiment according to its
actions and according to its knowledge.

The inner soul is in all things yet outside also; it is the
one controller which when perceived gives eternal happiness and
peace. Its light is greater than the sun, moon, stars, lightning,
and fire which do not shine in the world illuminated by this presence.
The metaphor of an upside down tree is used to show that heaven
is the true root of all life.

The senses may be controlled by the mind, and the mind by the
greater self. Through yoga the senses are held back so that one
becomes undistracted even by the stirring of the intuition. Thus
is found the origin and the end. When all the desires of the heart
are cut like knots, then a mortal becomes immortal. There is a
channel from the heart to the crown of the head by which one goes
up into immortality, but the other channels go in various directions.
One should draw out from one's body the inner soul, like an arrow
from a reed, to know the pure, the immortal. The Katha
Upanishad concludes that with this knowledge learned from
Death with the entire rule of yoga, Nachiketas attained Brahman
and became free from passion and death, and so may any other who
knows this concerning the soul.

Greatly respected, the short Isha
Upanishad is often put at the beginning of the Upanishads.
Isha means "Lord" and marks the trend toward
monotheism in the Upanishads. The Lord encloses all that
moves in the world. The author recommends that enjoyment be found
by renouncing the world and not coveting the possessions of others.
The One pervades and transcends everything in the world.

Whoever sees all beings in the soul
and the soul in all beings
does not shrink away from this.
In whom all beings have become one with the knowing soul
what delusion or sorrow is there for the one who sees unity?
It is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable,
without tendons, pure, untouched by evil.
Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
it organizes objects throughout eternity.19

The One transcends ignorance and knowledge, non-becoming and
becoming. Those, who know these pairs of opposites, pass over
death and win immortality. The Isha
Upanishad concludes with a prayer to the sun and to Agni.

The Mundaka Upanishad
declares Brahman the first of the gods, the creator of all and
the protector of the world. Connected to the Atharva Veda
the Mundaka Upanishad
has Brahman teaching his eldest son Atharvan. Yet the lower knowledge
of the four Vedas and the six Vedangas (phonetics,
ritual, grammar, definition, metrics, and astrology) is differentiated
from the higher knowledge of the imperishable source of all things.
The ceremonial sacrifices are to be observed; but they are now
considered "unsafe boats," and fools, who approve them
as better, go again to old age and death.

Like the Katha, the Mundaka Upanishad warns against
the ignorance of thinking oneself learned and going around deluded
like the blind leading the blind. Those, who work (karma)
without understanding because of attachment, when their rewards
are exhausted, sink down wretched. "Thinking sacrifices and
works of merit are most important, the deluded know nothing better."20
After enjoying the results of their good works, they enter this
world again or even a lower one. The Mundaka
Upanishad recommends a more mystical path:

Those who practice discipline and faith in
the forest,
the peaceful knowers who live on charity,
depart without attachment through the door of the sun,
to where lives the immortal Spirit, the imperishable soul.
Having tested the worlds won by works,
let the seeker of God arrive at detachment.
What is not made is not attained by what is done.21

To gain this knowledge the seeker is to go with fuel in hand
to a teacher who is learned in the scriptures and established
in God. Approaching properly, calming the mind and attaining peace,
the knowledge of God may be taught in the truth of reality by
which one knows the imperishable Spirit.

The formless that is higher than the imperishable and is the
source and goal of all beings may be found in the secret of the
heart. The reality of immortal life may be known by using the
weapons of the Upanishads as a bow, placing an arrow on
it sharpened by meditation, stretching it with thought directed
to that, and knowing the imperishable as the target. Aum
is the bow; the soul is the arrow; and God is the target. Thus
meditating on the soul and finding peace in the heart, the wise
perceive the light of blissful immortality. The knot of the heart
is loosened, all doubts vanish, and one's works (karma)
cease when it is seen. Radiant is the light of lights that illuminates
the whole world. God truly is this immortal, in front, behind,
to the right and left, below and above; God is all this great
universe.

By seeing the brilliant creator, the God-source, being a knower,
the seer shakes off good and evil, reaching the supreme identity
of life that shines in all beings. Enjoying the soul, doing holy
works, such is the best knower of God. The soul can be attained
by truth, discipline, correct knowledge, and by studying God.
Truth conquers and opens the path to the gods by which sages,
whose desires are satisfied, ascend to the supreme home. Vast,
divine, subtler than the subtle, it shines out far and close by,
resting in the secret place seen by those with vision. It is not
grasped by sight nor speech nor angels nor austerity nor work
but by the grace of wisdom and the mental purity of meditation
which sees the indivisible.

Whatever world a person of pure heart holds clearly in mind
is obtained. Yet whoever entertains desires, dwelling on them,
is born here and there on account of those desires; but for the
one whose desire is satisfied, whose soul is perfected, all desires
here on earth vanish away. This soul is not attained by instruction
nor intellect nor much learning but by the one whom it chooses,
who enters into the all itself. Ascetics with natures purified
by renunciation enter the God-worlds and transcend death. As rivers
flow into the ocean, the liberated knower reaches the divine Spirit.
Whoever knows that supreme God becomes God.

Later Upanishads

These Upanishads are being discussed in this chapter
in their estimated chronological order. The previous group is
from about the sixth century BC, and thus some of them are probably
contemporary with the life of the Buddha (563-483 BC). This next
group is almost certainly after the time of the Buddha, but it
is difficult to tell how old they are.

The Prashna Upanishad
is also associated with the AtharvaVeda and discusses
six questions; Prashna means question. Six men approached
the teacher Pippalada with sacrificial fuel in hands and questions
in their minds. Pippalada agreed to answer their questions if
they would live with him another year in austerity, chastity,
and faith.

The first question is, "From where are all these creatures
born?"22 The answer is that the Creator (Prajapati) wanted
them, but two paths are indicated that lead to reincarnation and
immortality. The second question is how many angels support and
illumine a creature and which is supreme? The answer is space,
air, fire, water, earth, speech, mind, sight, and hearing, but
the life-breath (prana) is supreme. The third question
seeks to know the relationship between this life-breath and the
soul. The short answer is, "This life is born from the soul
(atman)."23

The fourth question concerns sleep, waking, and dreams. During
sleep the mind re-experiences what it has seen and heard, felt
and thought and known. When one is overcome by light, the god
dreams no longer; then all the elements return to the soul in
happiness. The fifth question asks about the result of meditating
on the word Aum. When someone meditates on all three letters,
then the supreme may be attained. The sixth question asks about
the Spirit with sixteen parts. The sixteen parts of the Spirit
are life, faith, space, air, light, water, earth, senses, mind,
food, virility, discipline, affirmations (mantra), action,
world, and naming (individuality). All the parts are like spokes
of a wheel, the hub of which is the Spirit.

In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad
monotheism takes the form of worshipping Rudra (Shiva). The later
quality of this Upanishad is also indicated by its use
of terms from the Samkhya school of philosophy. The person (Purusha)
is distinguished from nature (Prakriti), which is conceived
of as illusion (maya). The method of devotion (bhakti)
is presented, and the refrain "By knowing God one is released
from all fetters" is often repeated. Nevertheless the Upanishadic
methods of discipline and meditation are recommended to realize
the soul by controlling the mind and thoughts. Breathing techniques
are also mentioned as is yoga. The qualities (gunas) that
come with action (karma) and its consequences are to be
transcended. Liberation is still found in the unity of God (Brahman)
by discrimination (samkhya) and union (yoga). By
the highest devotion (bhakti) for God and the spiritual
teacher (guru) all this may be manifested to the great
soul (mahatma).

The short Mandukya Upanishad
is associated with the AtharvaVeda and delineates
four levels of consciousness: waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and
a fourth mystical state of being one with the soul. These are
associated with the three elements of the sacred chant Aum
(a, u, and m) and the silence at its cessation. Thus this sacred
chant may be used to experience the soul itself.

The thirteenth and last of what are considered the principal
Upanishads is the MaitriUpanishad. It begins
by recommending meditation upon the soul and life (prana).
It tells of a king, Brihadratha, who established his son as king
and, realizing that his body is not eternal, became detached from
the world and went into the forest to practice austerity. After
a thousand days Shakayanya, a knower of the soul, appeared to
teach him. The king sought liberation from reincarnating existence.
The teacher assures him that he will become a knower of the soul.
The serene one, who rising up out of the body reaches the highest
light in one's own form, is the soul, immortal and fearless.

The body is like a cart without intelligence, but it is driven
by a supersensuous, intelligent being, who is pure, clean, void,
tranquil, breathless, selfless, endless, undecaying, steadfast,
eternal, unborn, and independent. The reins are the five organs
of perception; the steeds are the organs of action; and the charioteer
is the mind. The soul is unmanifest, subtle, imperceptible, incomprehensible,
selfless, pure, steadfast, stainless, unagitated, desireless,
fixed like a spectator, and self-abiding.

How then does the soul, overcome by the bright and dark fruits
of action (karma), enter good or evil wombs? The elemental
self is overcome by these actions and pairs of opposites, the
qualities (gunas) of nature (prakriti) and does
not see the blessed one, who causes action standing within oneself.
Bewildered, full of desire, distracted, this self-conceit binds
oneself by thinking "This is I," and "That is mine."
So as a bird is caught in a snare, it enters into a good or evil
womb.

How then may this elemental self on leaving this body come
into complete union with the soul? Like the waves of great rivers
or the ocean tide, it is hard to keep back the consequences of
one's actions or the approach of death. Like the lame bound with
the fetters made of the fruit of good and evil, like the prisoner
lacking independence, like the dead beset by fear, the intoxicated
by delusions, like one rushing around are those possessed by an
evil spirit; like one bitten by a snake are those bitten by objects
of sense; like the gross darkness of passion, the juggling of
illusion, like a falsely apparent dream, like an actor in temporary
dress or a painted scene falsely delighting the mind, all these
attachments prevent the self from remembering the highest place.

The antidote is to study the Veda, to pursue one's duty
in each stage of the religious life, and to practice the proper
discipline, which results in the pure qualities (sattva)
that lead to understanding and the soul. By knowledge, discipline,
and meditation God is apprehended, and one attains undecaying
and immeasurable happiness in complete union with the soul. The
soul is identical with the various gods and powers.

Having bid peace to all creatures and gone
to the forest,
then having put aside objects of sense,
from out of one's own body one should perceive this,
who has all forms, the golden one, all-knowing,
the final goal, the only light."24

The means of attaining the unity of the One is the sixfold
yoga of breath control (pranayama), withdrawal of the senses
(pratyahara), attention (dhyana), concentration
(dharana), contemplation (tarka), and meditation
(samadhi).

When one sees the brilliant maker,
lord, person, the God-source,
then, being a knower, shaking off good and evil,
the sage makes everything one in the supreme imperishable.25

When the mind is suppressed, one sees the brilliant soul, which
is more subtle than the subtle; having seen the soul oneself,
one becomes selfless and is regarded as immeasurable, without
origin - the mark of liberation (moksha). By serenity of
thought one destroys good and evil action (karma). In selflessness
one attains absolute unity.

The sound Aum may be used. Meditation is directed to
the highest principle within and also outer objects, qualifying
the unqualified understanding; but when the mind has been dissolved,
there is the bliss witnessed by the soul that is the pure and
immortal Spirit. But if one is borne along by the stream of the
qualities, unsteady, wavering, bewildered, full of desire, and
distracted one goes into self-conceit. Standing free from dependence,
conception, and self-conceit is the mark of liberation.

The influence of Buddhism can be seen in the description of
liberation from one's own thoughts. As fire destitute of fuel
goes out, so thought losing activity becomes extinct in its source.
What is one's thought, that one becomes; this is the eternal mystery.
By the serenity of thought one destroys good and bad karma; focused
on the soul, one enjoys eternal delight. The mind is the means
of bondage and release. Though the sacrificial fire is still important,
meditation has become the primary means of liberation.

The MahanarayanaUpanishad is a long hymn to
various forms of God with prayers for everything from wealth to
liberation. At one point the author identifies with the divine
light:

I am that supreme light of Brahman
which shines as the inmost essence of all that exists.
In reality I am the same infinite Brahman
even when I am experiencing myself
as a finite self owing to ignorance.
Now by the onset of knowledge
I am really that Brahman which is my eternal nature.
Therefore I realize this identity
by making myself, the finite self,
an oblation into the fire
of the infinite Brahman which I am always.
May this oblation be well made.26

The Jabala Upanishad, which is quoted by Shankara, gives
a description of the four stages of religious life for a pious
Hindu. Yajnavalkya suggests that after completing the life of
a student, a householder, and a forest dweller, let one renounce,
though one may renounce while a student or householder if one
has the spirit of renunciation. Suicide apparently was not forbidden,
for to the one who is weary of the world but is not yet fit to
become a recluse, Yajnavalkya recommends a hero's death (in battle),
fasting to death, throwing oneself into water or fire, or taking
a final journey (to exhaustion). The wandering ascetic though
wearing an orange robe, with a shaven head, practicing non-possession,
purity, nonviolence, and living on charity obtains the state of
Brahman.

The VajrasuchikaUpanishad claims to blast ignorance
and exalts those endowed with knowledge. It raises the question
who is of the Brahmin class. Is it the individual soul, the body,
based on birth, knowledge, work, or performing the rites? It is
not the individual soul (jiva), because the same soul passes
through many bodies. It is not the body, because all bodies are
composed of the same elements even though Brahmins tend to be
white, Kshatriyas red, Vaishyas tawny, and Sudras dark in complexion.
It is not birth, because many sages are of diverse origin. It
is not knowledge, because many Kshatriyas have attained wisdom
and seen the highest reality. It is not work, because good men
perform works based on their past karma. It is not performing
the rites, because many Kshatriyas and others have given away
gold as an act of religious duty.

The true Brahmin directly perceives the soul, which functions
as the indwelling spirit of all beings, blissful, indivisible,
immeasurable, realizable only through one's experience. Manifesting
oneself directly through the fulfillment of nature becomes rid
of the faults of desire, attachment, spite, greed, expectation,
bewilderment, ostentation, and so on and is endowed with tranquillity.
Only one possessed of these qualities is a Brahmin. This flexible
viewpoint indicates that the caste system may not yet have been
as rigid as it was later to become.

Although as the major teachings passed down orally from the century
before the Buddha, the Upanishads don't tell us too much
about the worldly society of India, they do express a widespread
mysticism and spiritual life-style that was to prepare the way
for the new religions of Jainism and Buddhism as well as the deepened
spirituality and mystical philosophies of Hinduism. The values
of the teachers and ascetics of this culture that has been likened
to the New Thought movement of the recent New Age philosophy were
spiritual and other worldly, but if they did not do much to improve
the whole society, at least they did not do the harm of the conquering
Aryans.

A personal educational system of spiritual tutoring for adults
developed, and individuals were encouraged to improve themselves
spiritually as they gave and received charity. (When renouncing
they gave to charity; then they accepted charity for basic sustenance.)
The rituals of animal sacrifices were de-emphasized, and knowledge
became greatly valued, especially self-knowledge. The doctrine
of reincarnation made the sacrifices for a better life now or
in the future eventually give way to the higher spiritual goal
of liberation from the entire cycle of rebirth. Thus austerity
and meditation became the primary methods of spiritual realization.